REVA Medical Bolsters Board For Australian IPO

   By Christopher Zinsli 
   Of DOW JONES VENTUREWIRE 
 

REVA Medical Inc., a stent developer registered for an initial public offering on the Australian Securities Exchange, has added the former chief executive of PricewaterhouseCoopers to its board, according to the company's latest prospectus.

James J. Schiro, who took the helm of the accounting giant in 1998 and more recently led Zurich Financial Services AG (ZFSVY, ZURN.VX), became the sixth director of San Diego-based REVA this month, the prospectus said. Schiro also is a director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP).

REVA plans to raise about A$70 million ($69.1 million) through an offering of Chess depositary interests to develop its bioresorbable ReZolve stent. The company needs to raise at least $50 million by Dec. 7, or else its marketing partner Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) could exercise an option to acquire the company.

Investors in REVA include venture firms Domain Associates LLC and Saints Capital, and hedge-fund firms Brookside Capital Partners and Cerberus Capital Management LP.

The company also said in the prospectus that it was awarded a $700,000 grant from the U.S. Treasury Department's Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project.

(This story was also published in Dow Jones VentureWire, a daily publication that covers news about start-ups and venture capital.)

-By Christopher Zinsli, Dow Jones VentureWire; 212-416-2034; [e-mail]